S1L18 – BENECO Lawyers go up against NEA over “Rule of Law”
If you ask me what was the first critical blunder of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) in its ill-fated effort to takeover BENECO, it would be this: it underestimated the feistiness of the Baguio-Benguet people, especially that small intrepid army of member-consumer-owners (MCO’s) as well as the political leadership of their LGU’s.
That stupid idea of a nocturnal raid on the BENECO headquarters fueled by “shock and awe” but no court order was just icing on the cake. It sealed the doom of NEA in Baguio.
It was such an embarrassing operational disaster that the NBI lost no time disowning any participation in it—through an OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER—leaving their PNP counterparts to hang out and dry.
Naturally, the PNP desperately tried to backpedal—or some say dogpaddle—out of trouble by pointing out that all their actions were pursuant to a “deputization” by those two NEA warmongers.
One of them, in turn, lost no time saying he left all the operational decisions to the discretion of the police. The police objected, “but we took our cue from you!” so back and forth they went debating which came first, the chicken or the egg.
The problem with a circular firing squad like this is when the smoke clears, there’s usually no man left standing.
Of course, the police panicked at the thought that they would be made the fall guys in this botched blitzkrieg disrespectfully carried out, of all places, in the city of former police general Benjie Magalong.
This authentic People Power hero once headed the elite CIDG before his Baguio townmates, overwhelmed with jealousy, yanked him back and said, “No, no, no—you’re gonna be OUR mayor, you’re staying right here in Baguio.”
Baguio people can be selfish that way, they will not “share” their Magalong with anyone. They won’t even let him be painted exclusive “yellow” even if he was an EDSA hero (or, more accurately, Camp Cathedral hero). After all, the late Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III was STILL president when Magalong put out his final report on the Mamasapano Massacre of the SAF 44. The report did not spare PNoy of command responsibility and, let me say it again, Benjie Magalong said that while PNoy was STILL his boss. Talk about balls the size of weather balloons.
It’s no wonder the next time the NEA folks tried asking the PNP for a repeat performance, the cops demurred, “oh, no—once bitten twice shy. We’re not doing anything like that again.”
They tried the Philippine Army but Magalong beat them to that, too. He had already touched base with his mistahs in olive drab, “stay out of my city.”
And now, finally, the lawyers of BENECO are starting to line up the ducks. So much facts and circumstance get muddled by the “fog of war” that people can’t wait for this conflict to finally enter the “intelligent phase.”
This is when everybody settles down, begin applying very clear and concise procedural rules, and start to put everything down in black and white. There are several administrative cases filed with the NEA against BENECO GM Mel Licoben, seven directors, and several cooperative officers and employees.
Don’t fall off your seat when you read the next sentence. In all of these cases, NEA is NOT represented. NEA is not a party in any of these cases. NEA is not impleaded in any of these cases, so NEA is not allowed to enter its appearance in these cases. It may not even send a lawyer to intervene in any of these cases.
NEA can deny that it had any hand in soliciting or suborning these actions (don’t worry, I will ask my student Juan Dimacaawat to explain these things in their next class recitation). Personally, as an officer of the court—which every lawyer is—I would not even remotely suggest that NEA instigated these cases. Because if it did then that’s the painful equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
Right now, NEA’s role is to be the adjudicator exercising quasi-judicial powers, which behooves them to act in a disinterested manner throughout the entire proceedings of ALL these cases. This means not only does NEA have to be impartial, it has to APPEAR impartial, to keep faith with the tenets of the Code of Judicial Ethics.
It’s all too evident why NEA (and its golden girl and silver-plated boy toy) would be uncomfortable with this set up. BENECO lawyers can now take out their legal scalpels and begin dissecting the validity of the NEA appointments in favor of these two, within the framework of RA 2717, RA 6138, PD 269, PD 1645 and RA 10531 and a whole constellation of other permanent statutes. NEA has no power to amend, revise or alter any of these laws whatsoever—especially when these laws are riddled with the mandatory word “shall” erasing any grey areas.
To top it all, BENECO’s lawyers can do their dissecting UNOPPOSED. NEA cannot defend itself because, as I pointed out already, it is not a party to these cases.
Isn’t that unfair?
No. It is what it is. That’s just how the system works. Even in an ordinary case, which starts out as “A versus B” to be decided by the Honorable Judge “C” when the time comes when only questions of law remain, and the issue is submitted above the paygrade of the judge, the court itself becomes a “public respondent” but it cannot submit any memorandum. Ironically, when the adjudicator himself is challenged, that adjudicator is NOT allowed to defend himself.
That just stands up to reason because can you imagine if our system allowed, for example, a Regional Trial Court to sue you?
Now you understand why it was crucial for these two NEA appointees that THAT nocturnal raid succeed. It’s very hard to make lightning strike the same place twice. After the raid fizzled out, all they could do now is keep paying loud lip service to letting the “rule of law” take its due course.
In an uncanny twist of poetic justice, that is EXACTLY what’s going to happen now.
The moral: Be very careful what you pray for.
God is very generous in answering prayers.
The author is a writer and lawyer based in Baguio City, Philippines. Former editor of the Gold Ore and Baguio City Digest, professor of journalism, political science and law at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF). He is a photographer and video documentarist. He has a YouTube channel called “Parables and Reason”